Jokowi’s Mental Revolution: Substance Over Style?

Popular presidential candidate of the main opposition party Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle and Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo meets his supporters in Jakarta on April 11.

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For some, Joko Widodo’s “Mental Revolution” comes as a breath of fresh air. For others, it’s a muddled mess.

Mr. Widodo has seized the front-runner’s spot in Indonesia’s presidential contest due largely to his everyday man appeal. But as voting day inches closer, he has come under pressure to inject some vision into a governing style centered on hitting the streets and talking to people.

“If he doesn’t graduate from that phase in his style to one of substance, he’ll have a difficult time ahead,” said Wimar Witoelar, a long-time political analyst and spokesman for former president Abdurrahman Wahid.

The “Mental Revolution” outlined in a recent editorial, was seen by some as an attempt to beef up a campaign that has so far been skinny on details.

In it he called for a change of thinking that would support a more accountable, less corrupt style of governance. He called for a system that would serve the people and put his support behind a strong military to unite them.

He also called for more food and energy independence, taking the established view that the government relies too much on resource extractive industries that do not create abundant employment. He said he wanted to eliminate growing intolerance.

While the content of the piece has mostly escaped scrutiny, its style and timing has drawn pot shots for being uncharacteristic of a man known best simply as Jokowi.

“It’s not like Jokowi at all to publish that long, reflective article,” said Philips Vermonte, a researcher at the Jakarta-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

Mr. Widodo’s smooth Javanese mannerisms and simple colloquialisms have earned him popularity points around the country since his successful bid for Jakarta governor in 2012.

President candidate from PDIP party Joko Widodo smiles during a coalition announcement in Jakarta on May 14 ahead of the July Presidential elections.

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Now people want to know how he plans to create jobs and improve education and health care – something he has begun to do in Jakarta.

“Voters don’t need or want to hear rumination on Indonesia’s place in the world, national sovereignty or nebulous ideas of social justice,” Liam Gammon, a researcher at Australian National University’s Department of Political and Social Change wrote in a recent blog post.

And they certainly aren’t interested in the sort of “hackneyed tropes” like those put forth in the editorial, Mr. Gammon added.

Mr. Widodo’s lack of a solid policy platform has appeared to give a boost – albeit most likely a temporary one – to Prabowo Subianto, his nearest potential competitor in the race for the presidency.

The former army general and presidential hopeful for the Great Indonesia Movement Party long ago put forth a six-point platform for economic transformation that has resource nationalization and pro-poor polices at its core.

He has also chosen as his running mate Hatta Rajasa, the craftsman of Indonesia’s current economic agenda, which analysts say will help strengthen his economic vision.

The newspaper in which the editorial was published is read mostly by more conservative, middle class voters – the type that like Mr. Subianto. And many analysts believe the piece was a response to criticism of his lack of experience and tendency to be vague rather than firm, a quality voters’ say they value.

Whatever the motivating factor was behind the mental revolution manifesto, Mr. Witoelar says it won’t take much for Mr. Widodo to earn the confidence he needs ahead of the election. Voters also say they value honesty and trustworthiness – values highly associated with Jokowi.

Should he win the presidency, however, that’s when he’ll “have to present some concrete programs and justify people’s confidence in him,” said Mr. Witoelar.

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